S.Korean stocks end firmer on U.S.-China trade talks; won rises

Hanjin Logistics

04/01/2019 06:57

* KOSPI index climbs, foreigners sell
    * Korean won inches up against USD
    * South Korea bond yields up
    * For the midday report, please click  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z407M

    SEOUL, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial
markets:    
South Korea's KOSPI stock index  .KS11  closed higher on Friday
as reports over Sino-U.S. trade talks boosted investor
sentiment. The Korean won edged up, while bond yields also rose.
    
** The benchmark index rebounded after hitting a two-year low
earlier in the session over concerns of an economic slowdown.
    
** A sharp drop in Chinese economic growth will hit the profit
of U.S. firms, but sales by Apple Inc  AAPL.O  and other
American companies should recover once Washington strikes a
trade deal with Beijing, a senior White House adviser said on
Thursday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1Z30SW

** China's services sector extended its solid expansion in
December, offering some cushion for the slowing economy, a
private survey showed on Friday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS7N1O401X

** China and the United States will hold vice ministerial level
trade talks in Beijing on Jan. 7-8, China's commerce ministry
said on Friday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nB9N1Y500D
    
** At 0632 GMT, the KOSPI was up 16.53 points or 0.83 percent at
2,010.23. For the week, the benchmark index dropped 1.5 percent,
posting its biggest weekly loss since Nov 23.
    
** Shares of Hanjin Transportation Co Ltd  002320.KS , the
shipping arm of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd's  003490.KS  parent
Hanjin Group, fell 8 percent after a South Korean private equity
fund acquired stake in Hanjin Transportation. Stake purchase
dragged down the company's shares to their lowest since Nov. 27,
2018.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1Z415J
    
** The won was quoted at 1,124.5 per dollar on the onshore
settlement platform  KRW=KFTC , 0.28 percent firmer than its
previous close at 1,127.7. The currency dipped 0.8 percent,
snapping two consecutive sessions of weekly gains.
    
** In offshore trading, the won  KRW=  was quoted at 1,124.48
per U.S. dollar, up 0.04 percent from the previous day, while in
one-year non-deliverable forwards  KRWNDFOR=  it was being
transacted at 1,106.65 per dollar.
    
** MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  was up 0.57 percent, after U.S. stocks ended the
previous session with losses  MKTS/GLOB . Japanese stocks
 .N225  weakened 2.26 percent.
    
** The current price-to-earnings ratio is 12.10, the dividend
yield is 1.28 percent and the market capitalisation is 1,242.04
trillion won. 
    
** The trading volume during the session on the KOSPI index
 .KS11  was 403,262,000 shares and, of the total traded issues
of 898, the number of advancing shares was 461.
    
** Foreigners were net sellers of 123,046 million won worth of
shares.
        
** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year
treasury bonds  KTBc1  rose 0.05 points to 109.31.
    
** The Korean 3-month Certificate of Deposit benchmark rate was
quoted at 1.87 percent, while the benchmark 3-year Korean
treasury bond yielded 1.798 percent, higher than the previous
session's 1.79 percent.

 (Reporting by Joori Roh, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5642; Reuters
Messaging: joori.roh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))